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Saturday, 29 July 2017

Interplanetary Round Table 2017

Another year, another series of Interplanetary seminars! This year we started with the 'round table' - actually three people sitting in a row - which was a mini Q&A session.

There were a few prepared questions plus a number from the audience. I've tried to write them up as accurately as possible, but beware that there might be some embellishment or paraphrasing and any inaccuracies are very likely to be my own! Although Bostria does like misleading people...

Our hosts were Gutier, Alberto and Bostria.

1. How do you view the current wargaming market and where do you think CB's place is in it?

It's very much a 'kinetic' market, always moving. Even GW is moving now, thinking of its customers and with more social media presence. There are too many Kickstarters that divide the attention of players across many short-term games that aren't well supported subsequently. Can the market support such a variety? CB certainly has to work hard to keep its pace.

What sets Infinity apart is that it has been improving constantly since 2005 and even since 2012 whereas many new games currently stop being well supported within a few years of launch. CB will never just sell a box and then run away from supporting it in the future and they see this as a major selling point for the company.

2. Is Aristeia! the answer to a saturated market?

Yes it is! It'll blow everything else away! DB believe that diversification is the right thing to do at the moment and they are doing so with both the new game and the manga.

3. Is CB going to keep expanding Infinity steadily or will they keep pushing new projects instead? Are there any surprises coming up?

Infinity will always remain the main product, although Aristeia is obviously going to be pushed hard at the moment. Expect more future diversification although there isn't going to be anything else completely new announced in the next six months.

4. Is there any information about Tunguska and the Kriza Borac and why the unit doesn't match the original concept art.

The first design for the Kriza Borac was in the 1st edition book over a decade ago and since then many new rules and concepts, such as silhouette 5 heavy infantry, have been created. It was inevitable that the design would change, although the fluff behind them has not. Tunguska is the money and they can afford big, expensive troops.

For other Tunguska information you will have to wait until the RPG (in October?) as it will have lots of stuff about Tunguska.

5. Regarding mercenaries, why are they only available to some factions instead of all, and why is Scarface no longer available after this season.

Mercenaries would unbalance the game if they were given out completely freely as they could cover the weaknesses of certain factions - e.g. the lack of Smoke in PanO. There has to be some restrictions. Further, if everyone could take mercenaries then it would lead to more armies being similar and sharing units which is something to be avoided.

Scarface was just a test as CB knew that if it did not work out then it would go back to normal at the end of the season anyway, No answer as to what exactly they were testing for or why it is actually being removed such as it being too good? There was the vague possibility mentioned that his inclusion in other armies may be reconsidered after the end of the season.

6. Is there any information about the upcoming merc faction?

Mercs, when they eventually come out, will likely be a series of 'sectorials' representing different mercenary companies - e.g. White Star. Don't expect to be able to pick and choose amongst all current mercenaries. Rumoured for Paradiso N3 and 'maybe before people expect'.

7. What sectorial will the Dao Fei be in and when is the Invincible Army coming out?

Dao Fei are part of the White Banner army on Svalarheima and Invincible Army will be out in 2018.

8. When will Combined Army finally get their Killer Hacking Device?

2018.

9. If wide access to mercs results in too same-y factions then why do all the factions get access to so many of the new mercs (Armand, Knauf, Lunah, ALIVE, Krakot etc.)?

This is not a contradiction. These units were carefully balanced for inclusion in a wide range of factions.

10. Will Aristeia! impact the Infinity release schedule?

No. There wil be no delays or reduced output for Infinity miniatures, In fact the remaining 2017 releases have already been digitally sculpted and the sculptors having been particularly productive this year - so much so that they are way ahead of the designers!

Aristeia! will be released in October/November.

11. Is the current rate of releases manageable?

Yes, so far it has been fine. There has been an increased focus on special and promotional items - particularly for Gencon (chibi Musashi, USA Spec Ops) and Adepticon (Fat Yuan Yuan). These conventions are a significant expense but they do pay for themselves. There might also be something special coming out for Essen.

This apparently hasn't been particularly difficult to output and many of the recent special releases have been fairly last minute things - such as the unique set up for the Fat Yuan Yuan.

Other News:

Aristeia! plastic miniatures are produced in china and are in one or two pieces, but will be pre-assembled. The outsourcing of these is the cause of the long time windows between development and release. The quality of the miniatures is meant to be excellent.

Infinity deathmatch could still be on the cards in the future. It has proven popular with many gaming groups creating their own variants and could be an easy way of teaching many players the basic rules at once. It could do well as a self-contained box set.

CB would like to do another manga, but the creators are rather sought after at the moment. It was apparently very difficult to try and get the manga distributed by some of the bigger distributors - although the exact reason for this was unclear. It was speculated that it might be because it was a one off. This means that regular comic shops tended not to stock it.

They would like to get Aristeia! stocked by dedicated board game stores, but it is currently uncertain.